@TwoHeavensJanuary 29, 2025
One of the first tabletop games I ever played was Battletech, I enjoyed it, but 40k called to my tender young mind. I didn't truly love Battletech and it's expansive, wonderful setting until I played Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries. I still play a version of it to this very day. It's a stellar sim that might look a bit rough graphically these days but certainly still holds up mechanically. Manage your two lances of mercs, hire and fire pilots, buy new machines, equip them with some absolutely satisfying and interesting guns, and bring the pain for pay.
One very clear memory was fighting a trial of possession with the Jade Falcons. That's mech combat as pure as it can get. 5 v 5, except the Clanners have better machines than you and probably more powerful weapons. Got through that fight the first time by the skin of my teeth, getting my pilots to concentrate fire... then claiming the Star Colonel who'd been giving me hell for the last couple missions as a bondsman, recruiting her... man it was so sweet.
It's a game of it's times, and you don't have nearly as much freedom to go anywhere as say Mechwarrior 5... but you know what? I prefer this one. This one's a gem, people, play it!
And remember.
No Guts, No Galaxy!